Trade-offs between dispersal and reproduction are known to be important drivers of population dynamics, but their direct influence on the spreading speed of a population is not well understood. Using integrodifference equations, we develop a model that incorporates a dispersal–reproduction trade-off which allows for a variety of different shaped trade-off curves. We show there is a unique reproductive-dispersal allocation that gives the largest value for the spreading speed and calculate the sensitivities of the reproduction, dispersal, and trade-off shape parameters. Uncertainty in the model parameters affects the expected spread of the population and we calculate the optimal allocation of resources to dispersal that maximizes the expected spreading speed. Higher allocation to dispersal arises from uncertainty in the reproduction parameter or the shape of the reproduction trade-off curve. Lower allocation to dispersal arises from uncertainty in the shape of the dispersal trade-off curve, but does not come from uncertainty in the dispersal parameter. Our findings give insight into how parameter sensitivity and uncertainty influence the spreading speed of a population with a dispersal–reproduction trade-off.

众所周知，分散与再生产之间的折衷是人口动态的重要驱动力，但人们对它们对人口扩散速度的直接影响尚不清楚。使用积分差方程，我们开发了一个模型，该模型结合了分散-生产折衷，可以实现各种不同形状的折衷曲线。我们展示了一个独特的繁殖扩散分配，该分配为传播速度提供了最大值，并计算了繁殖，扩散和权衡形状参数的敏感性。模型参数的不确定性会影响人口的预期分布，因此我们计算出最佳的资源分配分布以最大程度地提高预期分布速度。更高的分配分配源于再现参数的不确定性或再现权衡曲线的形状。较低的分散分配是由于分散权衡曲线形状的不确定性引起的，而不是由于分散参数的不确定性引起的。我们的发现使我们深入了解了参数敏感性和不确定性如何影响具有扩散-再生产权衡的人口的扩散速度。